Chelsea School District wants voters to approve $18.7 million bond issue

The Chelsea School District is asking its voters to approve an $18.7 million bond issue for facility upgrades Tuesday.

If voters approve the request, homeowners in the district will continue paying 7 mills for debt retirement as they do now for five more years. If the request is not approved, the debt-service millage rate will begin to drop.

The district's bonds are projected to be paid off in 2025.

The bonds are needed for upgrades, renovations and additions to school facilities, new school buses and upgrades to technology and improvements to athletic facilities and fields, school officials say. Paying for these items with bond money allows the district to avoid taking the money out of the district's general fund.

"This bond vote is critical for the school district in order to maintain some local control over the quality of education we offer in Chelsea since the state has not been able to adequately fund education for years," said Superintendent of Schools Dave Killips.

He said the school board has been conservative by not asking to increase the millage rate already levied in the district.

"Equally as important," he said, "the payoff date for the bonds will not be extended."
The millage costs the owner of a $200,000 home with a taxable value of $100,00 a total of $700 per year.

The bond proposal has been supported by the Chelsea Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors.

Included in the planned improvements are parking lot upgrades for the high school and an addition to South Meadows School for physical education and music classes. Currently, students travel to Beach Middle School for these classes.

The new physical education space would also be made available to the public, Killips said.

Also on Tuesday's ballot, school board incumbents Anne Mann and Rob Turner are running unopposed for re-election.